Today was a bonus day....about a month before we left on the cruise, the airline for our return trip to LAX made a change in the departure time by moving it up about 9 hours earlier. Since we would be travelling from Hobart to Sidney to catch that flight that same day, it would be impossible to make the connection. So....we added one more day to the trip--what the heck--we're retired! Today was the added excursion to our itinerary, a day in the Derwent Valley to the north of Hobart and the Mt. Field National Park.
We left Hobart and followed the Derwent River north, through pretty historic townships built on the banks of the river. We passed through the most beautiful green rolling hills, which were farms for sheep and cattle. The flowering trees and shrubs are in full bloom.
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| This photo in no way does justice to the bright green hills. |
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| The Derwent River, which flows all the way to Hobart and to the sea. |
Our destination was the Mount Field National Park, which is one Tasmania's oldest and most loved national parks. We parked at the Vistor Center and went in to find out that there was a daily park usage fee of $28. We hesitated ever so slightly as all we knew of the park was that there was a waterfall after a 10 minute walk. Sure glad we decided to take in the park as it was SPECTACULAR! We took a 2-hour hike that passed by 3 beautiful waterfalls, tall tall swamp gum trees, which are the world's tallest flowering trees, and on the forest floor, huge ferns. The day was beautiful; the skies were clear and the sun shone down through the trees onto the ferns and moss. It was a great hike.
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| First waterfall--Russell Falls |
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| Large ferns covered the forest floor |
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| Terry alongside a very tall swamp gum tree |
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| Inside the base of a fallen tree |
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| Waterfall #2-Horseshoe Falls |
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| Waterfall #3--Lady Barron Falls |
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